Deutsche Bank (DB) has announced the appointments of Zi-Kuan Lim and Rohit Satsangi as co-heads of M&A for Asia Pacific, effective July 2023.
Singapore-based Lim will join from Credit Suisse, where he spent 20 years, most recently as head of M&A for Southeast Asia and frontier markets.
During his tenure, Lim advised on a number of flagship transactions in the region including Sembcorp Marine’s S$4.5 billion acquisition of Keppel Offshore & Marine earlier this year, the S$3.9 billion sale of Singapore Press Holdings, and the $3.2 billion privatisation of Razer.
Meanwhile, Satsangi is a DB veteran who joined the bank as an associate in London in 2006, before relocating to Hong Kong in 2008 and joining the regional M&A business. During this time, he has advised on landmark transactions for clients including global private equity players Carlyle, Blackstone, BPEA EQT and MBK.
Both executives will report to Mayooran Elalingam, head of Investment Banking Coverage and Advisory for DB in Asia Pacific.
The M&A co-head roles are newly created, as a result of Elalingam taking on the expanded role of head of Investment Banking Coverage and Advisory for Apac in 2020, a spokesperson for DB explained to FinanceAsia.
On further hiring plans, the spokesperson said: “On a case-by-case basis, we will strategically look to hire experienced individuals that can add value to our business, where it makes sense to do so.”
The bank declined to comment on media reports that it was looking to hire staff from Credit Suisse following the UBS deal.
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Despite reports pointing to a weak M&A market so far this year (data from White & Case shows a 40% fall in global M&A deal value year-on-year in Q1 2023)DB said it remained optimistic about the landscape in Apac.
“We are seeing more activity in markets like India and China, as evidenced by our recent deal exclusively advising Yuyuan on the sale of International Gemological Institute (IGI) to funds managed by Blackstone,” the spokesperson confirmed.
